The infinite sea.
Chen Xia stood in the sea, facing the oncoming waves, but they did not hit his body and instead passed through him and fell into the sea behind.
Chen Xia looked somewhat confused. In his impression, the Past and Future Skill should find his future self among the many rivers and then shake it.
Why did it start with the sea?
He frowned slightly, suddenly sensing something, and looked back.
In the billowing transparent waves, he saw a vague figure standing in the distance, yet it made him feel very real.
The figure suddenly raised its hand and gestured with two fingers, chuckling and saying,
"All things in the world are a cycle, I alone sit at the deepest part of the river of time, profoundly comprehending this truth. In the past I called my future self, which was a big taboo, disturbing time and not following the rules."
The blurred figure gradually revealed its appearance, identical to Chen Xia now, except its pupils were a deep blue color. It chuckled again and said,
"But it's good that I never liked following rules. The suppression of the Heavenly Dao is weak in the Great Death Realm, I can fight with half my power for five breaths before the backlash of the Great Dao hits you!"
"What will happen?" Chen Xia asked.
Here the future Chen Xia shook his head, "The backlash of the Past and Future Skill accumulates, becoming more and more severe. Since you used it now and called me out, it shouldn't be too bad, maybe just some depletion of spiritual power and weakening of your soul."
"Can it kill in five breaths?" Chen Xia asked again.
"Killing this quasi-saint remnant is enough, if you want to go further and kill all the cultivators in this small realm that's also possible, but I'm not too willing."
The future Chen Xia chuckled softly, the billowing light in his deep blue eyes suddenly erupted, and he nodded saying, "Let's go."
The boundless sea disappeared abruptly.
Chen Xia opened his eyes, his body still falling in the small realm, the howling wind lingering in his ears.
In the distance the pitch-black old dragon was still waving its arms violently, wreaking havoc throughout the small realm, suppressing the several hundred cultivators so that they had no power to fight back.
The young geniuses could occasionally attack, but they couldn’t do much damage, at most causing some blood stains.
This was the vast difference between a quasi-saint and the Heaven Mending Realm, like a chasm between heaven and earth. The seven orthodox factions were barely holding on, although they had treasures they hadn't used them yet, clearly this would be a prolonged tug of war.
Everyone was prepared to fight for months, even years.
But at this moment, spiritual energy suddenly pressed down on the entire small realm, as if coming from beyond the sky, squeezing the already compressed space even more.
The immortal masters were shocked, "What's going on, could it be one of the old dragon's mystic arts?!"
"Evade first, deploy the defensive grand formation, withdraw your artifacts, take healing elixirs, and prepare to defend!"
"Condense the formation, observe the changes!"
The cultivators shouted nonstop, telling each other to evade and defend.
Outside the small realm, between the Dead Sea Star River.
A blurred figure standing between heaven and earth emerged, even taller than the entire Dead Sea Star River. The star river formed its veins, the cosmos coalesced into its body.
The blurred figure stretched out its left hand, with a grayish white light cluster in its palm.
This was the small realm.
The figure stared at the small realm and flatly said,
"Little tricks of the Great Sage."
It slowly closed its palm.
The entire small realm suddenly began to shake, the already compressed space couldn't take it anymore and even started to crack open, revealing the scene of the Dead Sea Star River.
A cultivator happened to look up and his expression instantly froze, then became extremely terrified as he shouted loudly,
"Great calamity, there is a great calamity outside!"
The cultivators looked over, faces ashen.
The scene outside was truly like the descent of a god or demon. Just a glance made them feel despair, without the slightest thought of resisting.
How could this be?!
Such a powerful existence shouldn't exist in the Great Death Realm. This level of great calamity should only be able to enter during the second opening of the Great Death Realm!
The cultivators were puzzled and stunned.
But the stunnedness still took time. This was the third breath.
In the fourth breath, the small realm collapsed by over half, the old dragon's body shattered, only its remaining dragon head could still move.
The fifth breath.
The large hand had only squeezed halfway.
Yet over half the small realm crumbled, the dragon head annihilated. The quasi-saint remnant died as dead as it could be, without a hint of aura left.
The blurred figure in the starry sky gradually disappeared, as mysteriously and abruptly as when it had appeared.
The small realm started to close off and exclude, ejecting the cultivators within in succession.
Chen Xia's body was still falling. His consciousness entered the sea again and gazed at the blurred, plain figure.
"Five breaths, no more no less, very fitting with my sense of time," the blurred figure laughed.
Chen Xia looked at him and suddenly asked, "I've always been puzzled, what exactly are the conditions for using the Past and Future Skill? If it's just comprehending time, many people can do it."
The blurred figure stretched out a hand and replied,
"Three requirements. First you must know the Past and Future Skill. Second, you must have a future. Most importantly the third point, your future must be strong enough to forcibly cross the river of time to come back."
"Not everyone's future can become an emperor, nor can every emperor recklessly cross the river of time to go back."
He chuckled and continued,
"Even your future, only a few existences can freely cross the river of time to return. You should have witnessed one before, I am the second."
"There will be more in the future, but you may not get to witness them all. I've stayed at the deepest part of the river of time for too long, I also don't know who else, I can only vaguely sense."
Chen Xia nodded and waved his hand, "Then goodbye."
"Perhaps," the blurred figure nodded, then suddenly added,
"Cherish the present, in the future you may become a different future."
"Alright," Chen Xia nodded again and his figure disappeared into the billowing sea.
The blurred figure turned and slowly sank down, heading to the deepest part of the billowing sea and sitting still.
Chen Xia had said goodbye earlier, and he replied perhaps, because they might really meet again in the future.
Because he was the Chen Xia who had lived the longest, also the farthest future.
He did not become an emperor, nor some great sage or quasi-saint, not even in the Heaven Mending Realm.
He simply continuously improved, improving to the maximum. Improving enough to slay emperors, even killing more than one pair at the same time.
But his future was not good, to the extent that he now sat motionless at the deepest part of the river of time, detached from worldly affairs for a long time.
Using this Past and Future Skill to call him out and let him move around a bit to witness this rare past was a pleasant change.
Every past will become the future, time is a cycle, especially for the undying.
There is no escape.
When the blurred figure closed his eyes, he softly said a sentence.
"The Heavenly Dao cannot be violated, I am unwilling to become the Heavenly Dao."
The small realm continuously collapsed, fragments of void scattered down in succession.
The cultivators were ejected in succession, rejected by the remaining attachments.
This process was extremely fast. Of the remaining few hundred cultivators, only over a hundred remained very quickly. The cultivators of the various factions had dazed expressions, still not recovered from the previous events.
Only Xu Zhen observed Chen Xia, eyes flashing, seeming to realize something.
Chen Xia's falling body also stopped. Opening his eyes, he was at the very center of the small realm. Turning his head, he gestured at Xu Zhen and Ma Xiaohong.
The crimson and orange flying swords extremely quickly shot over, inverted and hung by Ma Xiaohong's side.
"I have some things to do next, so I found a bodyguard for you," Chen Xia said to Ma Xiaohong, then turned to Jian Er and shouted,
"Little Sword, help me keep an eye on the person. When I get back if the person is fine, I'll return the two flying swords to you as they were. If something happens, then don't think about getting the swords back, go find a replacement yourself."
Jian Er had a bewildered expression. After a while, he frowned and shouted,
"These are my life swords!"
"I know," Chen Xia nodded. "That's why I dare make this deal with you."
If they weren't his life swords, Chen Xia really wouldn't dare say that.
Jian Er was stunned again, frowning and questioning, "After protecting the person well, you'll really return the flying swords to me? Won't you just call out and the swords will follow you away?!"
What life swords, it was just Chen Xia's task.
Chen Xia shook his head, "I say it once. Moreover, I already got Xu Zhen to help protect, you're just lending a hand, taking all the benefits, what else are you unsatisfied about?"
"Ah?" Jian Er was somewhat taken aback, but the crumbling small world did not give him time to react, forcibly expelling him out.
Chen Xia stood at the very center, his left eye flashing with crimson light, and half an immortal sword hovered beside him.
This time he only brought half an immortal sword, and the remaining three million flying swords were all placed on Ma Xiaohong, using the bronze sword as the carrier, which was considered Ma Xiaohong's personal protection sword.
The void shattered, fragments kept falling, and more and more cultivators were expelled. Now only dozens of people remained.
Xu Zhen looked straight at Chen Xia without saying a word. She already knew what would happen, but the more she knew, the more she dared not speak out.
Chen Xia grinned at Xu Zhen and waved at her.
"Little Xu, see you later."
The fragments fell like raindrops, drizzling down, and the expulsion force of the small world became stronger and stronger.
Xu Zhen gritted her teeth and desperately tried to squeeze forward, but she could not overcome the heavenly intent no matter what, and her body kept exiting the small world.
Once she exited, she could never come back in again.
No matter how unwilling she was, she could only watch Chen Xia's figure fade away.
Ma Xiaohong hugged the bronze sword blankly, watching Chen Xia's figure fade away. Even her mind became dazed.
It seemed that ever since she entered the Great Death Realm, she had been with Chen Xia all along, first feeling nervous and afraid, then gradually becoming familiar with him, able to chat a few simple words, and later they talked more and more.
Ma Xiaohong was very happy, and she was also willing to stay by Chen Xia's side, but she did not expect to suddenly separate and stay with Xu Zhen.
Of course she knew Xu Zhen would protect her for Chen Xia's sake, and only because of Chen Xia.
To Xu Zhen, she herself was just a dispensable thing.
As long as Chen Xia cared, it didn't need to be Ma Xiaohong, it could be anyone else.
Only with Chen Xia could Ma Xiaohong feel treated equally.
Now that Chen Xia was leaving, she suddenly panicked and her eyes still wandered in confusion, trying to find Chen Xia's figure.
"Let's go." Xu Zhen's voice was flat.
Ma Xiaohong looked up at Xu Zhen. Xu Zhen's eyes were slightly red, but her expression was extremely calm, showing no change at all.
She was stunned, not knowing how to reply to Xu Zhen.
"You can't just keep waiting here, can you?" Xu Zhen asked.
"Um... no... I'll go with you." Ma Xiaohong wanted to keep going, but she didn't dare defy Xu Zhen's wishes.
Most of the surrounding cultivators sighed. They did not expect the final outcome of the Grand Sage's small world to be like this. They were quite lamenting at the moment.
The last few departing peerless geniuses saw Chen Xia's figure staying inside, and their expressions were somewhat gloomy and puzzled, constantly thinking about things.
After lamenting, the cultivators dispersed one after another.
The Grand Sage relic in the Dead Sea Star River was over. Everyone had made all kinds of preparations when they came, but the end was so abrupt and swift that it took everyone by surprise.
Fortunately, there was more than one Grand Sage relic in the Great Death Realm. Now that this one was gone, they could go snatch another one.
The cultivators gradually dispersed to arrange other plans.
Inside the small world.
Chen Xia was already standing on the heart lake, staring straight ahead with crimson eyes.
There was an old man there, with broken dragon horns on his head, also staring at Chen Xia. He said,
"Forty million years ago, I was beheaded by the Great Emperor, severing my dragon horn and my path to become an Emperor. I was really unwilling, so I sacrificed my clan members in exchange for reconnecting the path of the Emperor, but I still fell short, and later died in the Interface War."
"I've been waiting bitterly for forty million years, just hoping for fellow clan members to come and reconnect my unfinished path of the Emperor."
"Did you deceive me?" Chen Xia asked plainly.
"Yes and no." The old dragon shook his head and continued.
"My previous methods were really inadequate. I regret not telling you clearly earlier. Now I have figured it out completely."
"What I called reconnecting the path of the Emperor means letting you become the Emperor on my behalf, and also on behalf of the entire Universal Celestial Dragons, at least to let the Universal Celestial Dragons prosper again once more."
He raised his hand high and pointed heavily, shouting loudly,
"Manifest, Celestial Dragon true form!"
The heart lake quickly turned crimson, with surging blood inside. At the very center was a drop of golden blood, displaying its extraordinariness.
"Finally, slay me in my regret to obtain my essence blood, and aid you in becoming a true Celestial Dragon."
The old dragon stood up, condensing his horns into form, standing on the heart lake, but completely without any killing intent, only with surging spirit energy.
Chen Xia held the half immortal sword, grinned and nodded.
"It's really interesting to come out once in a while."
Killing was what he was best at.
The bloody heart lake surged in an instant. Chen Xia charged in holding his sword, cleaving trenches in the blood lake, instant slash!
The world was clear, full of magnificent sword qi.
After the Celestial Dragon relic, news of another Grand Sage relic came immediately. It was some distance away from the Dead Sea Star River. The cultivators rushed over one after another, seeking opportunities.
First waiting for over ten years, then swarmed in once the relic opened. The battle was extremely tragic this time. Of the three thousand cultivators who entered, only one hundred and thirty remained, among whom one top genius died.
The true legacy of a great emperor from the Supreme Realm died inside.
But this great emperor's legacy was not killed by the Grand Sage's relic, but beheaded by the Young Celestial Emperor of the Celestial Realm.
From then on, the Supreme Realm and the Celestial Realm tore apart their facade.
And this time, the opportunity in the Grand Sage relic was obtained by the Master of the Thousand Stars from the Twilight Realm. He seemed to have reached the threshold of Transcending Mortality and Entering into Holiness, just one step away.
The combat power of the Master of the Thousand Stars also reached first place on the Heaven Ranking, becoming the leader of the peerless geniuses of all realms.
This was thirty years later.
Within the small world in the Dead Sea Star River.
Chen Xia was covered in blood, inserting his sword into the old dragon's head, nailing it firmly to the ground. His crimson eyes became more and more fierce, and the entire blood sea began to boil.
With the old dragon's last breath, he said at ease with a smile,
"Welcome the last...of the Celestial Dragons of All Heavens."
"Universal Celestial Dragon!"
The golden blood shone, rushing into Chen Xia's body. Countless vital bloodline forces flowed back into his body, with fine blood threads beginning to entwine, seeming to form a cocoon.
Chen Xia remembered this feeling. This was what he felt the first time he coalesced the Celestial Dragon imagery.
This represented rebirth and hibernation.
Unchanging for the next thousand years.